Doherty Kicked Off Team at Pierce

What is the appropriate punishment when a quarterback ignores the play call sent in by his coach and decides to call his own play?

That is the debate raging at Pierce College, where first-year Coach David Banuelos decided to dismiss backup quarterback Scott Doherty from the team on Monday after Doherty changed the final play during a 61-16 loss to Valley College on Saturday night.

Pierce is 1-8 with one game to play.

Pierce had the ball on the Valley two-yard line and Banuelos called for a running play.

Doherty, a sophomore from Birmingham High, ignored the call in the huddle and called for a pitch pass, but the pass was intercepted and returned 98 yards for a touchdown as time expired.

On Monday, Banuelos informed Doherty, “You’re done.”

Doherty, who was an honor student at Birmingham and missed only one practice at Pierce since the summer, said Banuelos’ decision to remove him from the team is too harsh.

“I’m one of the most dedicated persons on the team,” Doherty said. “I’m not a dumb kid. I figured my play could work just as well as any other play.

“I admit I did something wrong. I made a mistake. It’s heartbreaking.”

Banuelos said his decision to release Doherty wasn’t based on the incident Saturday alone but on “a culmination of things.”

“You just don’t change plays like that,” Banuelos said. “We all agreed [as coaching staff] we had to put our foot down.”